When Tea Meets Coffee
by Alligates
Summary: All Merlin was doing was getting himself his daily dose of caffeine; this 'Princess' fellow had no business being so rude to him. He had no business being so strangely familiar to him, either. Merlin didn't think he would meet the man more than once, but it seemed destiny was still in business. Reincarnation AU. Coffeeshop AU, barista!Gwaine, student!Merlin, businessman!Arthur.
1. A Severe Mix-Up

**Whoops this too.**

 **Prompt:** **A short little misadventure about merlin, Arthur and coffee?**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

It was a cold Monday morning, which meant that the queue heading up to the ordering counter at the Camelot Café went nearly out the door. It was understandably crowded, as it was one of the few places to offer people their daily or bi-daily caffeine fixes at reasonable prices and with an adequate amount of caffeine, as well as a variety of choices. In short, it was a coffee-addict's dream come true.

Of course, none of these thoughts occurred to the businesspeople grumpily checking their watches, the students milling around either yawning widely or with their noses stuck in a textbook, or even the sweating baristas as they fretted over the many liquids they were handling.

Merlin had only been awake for about an hour, and already the day was dragging on at a near stagnant pace. The crowd around him paid him little mind, but their lack of concern for others caused them to be quite loud as they awaited their various frothy beverages. It was very, very early. Merlin felt a headache building.

He was nearly barreled over by the woman in front of him as she marched towards the waiting counter.

"Merlin!" the barista greeted cheerfully as he stepped up to order.

Merlin grinned. "Hello, Gwaine. Work been good?" Finally, something to brighten his day. Gwaine could always make him laugh.

"Hurry up," the man behind Merlin grumbled. He seemed to be one of the angry watch-checkers.

Gwaine raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "Wait your turn, Princess."

Merlin struggle to hold in a snort. "Ah. I'll have the—"

"Your usual?"

"Yes, thank you." Merlin smiled, relieved, handing the barista his money without another word. Everything was always easier with Gwaine.

Gwaine nodded. "You can go on over and wait over there, mate. I'll call you when it's ready."

"Thanks, Gwaine," Merlin said as he walked off, ignoring the muttered "Finally," from the 'Princess' behind him.

Merlin walked off to stand by the other people waiting for their orders, shooting a mild glare at the angry man who had been standing behind him. He was rather surprised to find him not an old crotchety bag of sour wrinkles, as he had been almost been hoping, but a young man in a suit, not much older than Merlin himself.

He looked oddly familiar, but Merlin could not be bothered to think any more on this rude new character, and he pulled out his phone to pass the time.

A few interminable minutes later, "Merlin" and "Arthur" were called up simultaneously by a grumpy looking barista. She wordlessly plunked the two drinks down on the counter and turned back to the horde of customers.

The 'Princess' from earlier must have been Arthur, because he barely spared a moment in grabbing one of the drinks and whipping past Merlin.

The latter, for his part, scoffed, picking up the other cup.

It must have been a coincidence that they both raised their cups to their lips at the same time, and both realized with a jolt that this was absolutely _not_ what they had ordered.

"This is _tea_!" Arthur exclaimed in shock, looking quite dismayed. "I ordered an espresso!"

"I didn't order this," Merlin muttered to himself as the bitter taste of coffee bloomed on his tongue, turning back to the counter. He barely noticed Arthur doing the same beside him.

Gwaine blinked at them. "Back so soon?"

"I think I got the wrong drink," Merlin said, at the same time as Arthur's "This is _not_ my espresso." They both look at each other in surprise.

Gwaine rubbed a hand over his face. "Oh, you're _joking_. Alright, alright, what did you order?"

"My regular, Earl Grey with milk," Merlin said.

"Oh, that must be the atrocity I have in my cup," Arthur grumbled.

Merlin ignored him. "And I seem to have coffee."

"It's a _double espresso_ with _cream_ , you ignorant—"

"Ah, you two know each other?" Gwaine intervened with a smirk.

"No," they replied in unison, looking rather appalled at the mere idea.

Gwaine flapped a hand nonchalantly. "Well, couldn't you simply switch drinks?"

Merlin and Arthur grimaced. "His mouth touched it," Arthur whined quietly, while Merlin said, "I would rather not, thanks."

Gwaine huffed, rolling his eyes. "Well, I know both of you, and so I _implore_ that you just switch your drinks and be done with it, unless you want to wait another, oh, say, fifteen minutes," he suggested, looking pointedly at Arthur, who glanced at his watch and grimaced.

Merlin stared at Arthur, waiting for him to make the first move. He tried to convey that they were both equally unhappy about the arrangement and so the other man should _stop pouting like a child_ , but time was pressing, and they both needed to leave, with or without their drinks.

"That's fine by me," Arthur eventually grumbled, sounding like it was absolutely not fine by him.

Merlin raised an eyebrow. "Is it, now?"

"Merlin," Gwaine warned, "play nice."

He raised his arms in a placating gesture. "Fine by me," he assured.

"Good." Gwaine turned away, disappearing into the sea of similarly-dressed baristas running around behind the counter.

Merlin let out a breath, holding out the espresso. "Here you are, _Princess_ ," he said with a grin.

Arthur glared at him, snatching his drink, nearly spilling it all over himself. "Idiot," he growled, thrusting his other arm out impatiently. He barely waited for Merlin to take hold of the cup before he dropped his hand and marched out the door.

Merlin watched him leave, warming his hands on his tea. He sighed.

"What a prat."

A strangely familiar prat, but a prat nonetheless.

Merlin sipped his tea and hurriedly escaped the morning coffee crowd, stepping onto the cold pavement outside the café, watching the steam curl off his drink like a tiny vaporous dragon.

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 **Thanks for reading!**


	2. The Ungodly Mixture

**Did anyone think this would get more chapters? I didn't, anyway.**

 **Here we are, anyway. You have MerlinMorgana1579 to thank :)**

 **Enjoy!**

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Merlin genuinely thought that was the last he would see of the prat.

Naturally, the order of the world could never be so kind to him—or, really, so cruel, but Merlin knew not yet the importance of this aforementioned 'prat'.

It was a Friday, this time, around two weeks after their first and only meeting. Merlin had barely slept in days, and he could finally taste his freedom; he had just finished the last of seven long exams, and he no longer knew what to do with himself. As it was, he spent his evening sat quietly at a small table in a secluded corner of the Camelot Café by the window, listening to Gwaine chatter on during his break.

The place was nearly vacant, with only small groups of teenagers dropping by for doughnuts every hour or so. Merlin stared out the window, watching as the street lights flickered to life above the steadily darkening street. His vision blurred, turning the lights into fuzzy halos. It was warm and comfortable in the café, like a blanket of home had been spread over him. His jaw cracked as he yawned.

He jumped when a cup of something that smelled strong and fierce was slammed down in front of him. He blinked up at Gwaine, who was no longer wearing his barista uniform.

"What?" Merlin croaked eloquently, trying to rouse himself.

"Caffeine," Gwaine explained, sliding into the seat across from him. "You don't seem like you'd make it home without it."

Merlin was still confused. "Am I being kicked out?" The café was open at all hours, so Merlin could not comprehend why it would be so.

Gwaine frowned. "No? Why would you…? No, I just thought you'd want to leave, that's all. You can stay a bit longer, if you like, but you don't want to fall asleep here." He dropped his voice to a stage whisper and leaned in closer. "The night crew will draw on your face. They've done it to me. Leon can be a right mischievous bastard, he can."

Merlin blinked. "You're—" he paused for a yawn "—leaving?"

"Shift's over, mate. It's ten."

Merlin glanced out the window, and it was indeed much darker than he had expected it to be. He closed his fingers uncertainly around the cup. "What's this?"

Gwaine grinned wickedly. "Try it."

Merlin sniffed it. "It's coffee."

"It's not _just_ coffee, mate. Try it."

"Gwaine, I don't like coffee—"

"Just drink it. For me?" he pleaded, batting his eyelashes in a manner quite ineffective to someone as used to it as Merlin.

Merlin narrowed his eyes. "I don't trust it."

"Oh, come on! I prepared it specially for you."

"Mm, _prepared_. I suppose that means it is not on the menu, contains at least a spoonful of alcohol, and is likely illegal."

Gwaine gasped, aghast. "Merlin, I would _never_ give you that! Not again, in any case. That one is my special recipe, but I know you don't like it. _That_ one," he said, pointing to the cup in Merlin's loose grip, "is a new recipe I prepared just for you."

"With coffee, which I happen to dislike."

"Drink it, damn you," Gwaine exclaimed, beaming like a maniac.

Merlin sighed in resignation. Already feeling the regret, he brought the cup to his lips and took a small sip. He let the flavour wash over his tongue; there was indeed coffee, as he had expected, very strong coffee, possibly espresso, but it was mixed in with something more subtle, something more familiar, almost like tea—

Wait.

"Gwaine, what the hell are you playing at?"

The barista barked out a laugh. "I just remembered your meeting with Arthur the other day, and I was struck by inspiration."

"It's disgusting," Merlin lied. It was a bit strange, but the smoothness of the tea managed to lessen the bitterness of the espresso, until only a rich aftertaste was left.

"No it's not. Forgive me?" he asked, still grinning widely.

Merlin took another sip, ignoring Gwaine's triumphant guffaw. "I shan't."

Gwaine shrugged, and proceeded to gather his things. "You're staying?"

Merlin relaxed into his seat. "Yeah, Gaius gave me the night off. I think I'll just sit here and… breathe for a bit. Might even drink that concoction you gave me."

Gwaine nodded. "Sure, mate." He turned back before he reached the door. "Don't fall asleep!" And then he was gone, striding down the pavement and into the night.

Merlin shook his head after him, puffing out a small laugh. He reclined further into his seat, watching as the first few stars blinked into the darkening blue sky. He would have to leave eventually, he knew, but for now he could just sit, and breathe, and watch the stars.

He truly hadn't meant to, but he fell asleep where he sat, with espresso-tea filling his nostrils and a blanket of warmth encompassing his being.

* * *

Arthur got in around midnight, having just finished his paperwork and sat through dozens of meetings he could scarcely remember. He knew that he was in line to inheriting his father's wealthy business, but the workload was heavy, the company was dreadful, and all in all Arthur found it dead boring.

It was nice to stop by the Camelot Café on his way back to his apartment. It always felt like a second home to him, and the baristas all knew him by name, and at least tolerated him when he wasn't quite a ray of sunshine. Besides, their coffee was really something else, and Arthur was not one to throw compliments around very easily.

He usually made it a bit earlier, to catch the end of Gwaine's shift, but he had not anticipated the mountain of papers his father would dump on him, calling it "a small taste" to accustom himself to the workload of a CEO.

He stepped into the warm atmosphere of the café, breathing in the smell of caffeine and pastries. He slightly wished he could work here, instead of the maelstrom that was his office where every few minutes he was called away to do something he was absolutely not qualified to do.

He trudged up to the counter, tiredly exchanging greetings with a sunny Leon and ordering himself a milder choice than his usual. He wanted to sleep tonight.

He accepted his drink with a small sigh of satisfaction, inhaling his first sip.

His phone beeped, ruining the moment, and he cursed as he checked it. It was his father, asking for his opinion on a certain decision Arthur could not care less about, to "see how he handled the pressure." Arthur angrily used his free hand to type out a reply, allowing his instincts to lead his feet to his regular table. He pressed 'send' just as he sat down, and relief washed over him.

It was then that he noticed the table was not vacant.

* * *

 **Ayyyy lil cliffie. You'll survive.**

 **Two more chapters after this, and they've been written, so it shan't take a year!**

 **Thank you for reading!**


	3. Caffeinated Dreams

**I got impatient and uploaded this one a bit early. I have the power to do as I please.**

 **Short little one, here is chapter three.**

 **Enjoy!**

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Arthur would like to believe that he did not so much as flinch, but the fact was that he jumped quite high. There was a sleeping figure slumped over the table, _his_ table, the one he sat at almost every night.

Arthur's mind immediately went to horror stories of being murdered by a druggie or mauled to death by a homeless teenager, but then he recognized the poor fellow. Gwaine had called him a funny name—Marvin? It was just as likely to be Marvin as not, so Arthur would call him that for now.

Marvin was completely unaware of the situation, asleep as he was. There was a cup of something caffeinated that had long gone cold by his elbow, but it scarcely looked touched, which may have explained the man's lack of consciousness.

Arthur stared at him for a moment, taking in the slightly frayed appearance of his coat and the heavy bags under his eyes, and his fear of suspicious night-dwellers returned.

Perhaps it was that he was too lazy to move, or perhaps it was that this Marvin was strangely familiar to him in a way he could not explain, but Arthur stayed at the table. He eventually realized that he should probably wake Marvin, to save any future awkwardness.

He reached over and gently shook the man's elbow. Marvin sat up immediately, looking blearily around. "Whuzzat?" he murmured.

"You were sleeping at my table," Arthur said, not sure what else qualified as an explanation.

Marvin furrowed his brows, rubbing a hand over his face. "Sorry, sire."

There was a heavy pause as both men processed the words that had just been said.

"What did you just call me?" Arthur asked, utterly bemused.

Marvin, for his part, looked quite puzzled. "I… don't know."

"You called me 'sire'," Arthur recalled, not knowing whether to be shocked or amused. The word sounded so familiar… and Arthur really was not comfortable with all these new things that tickled something very old at the back of his mind.

"Marvin" (that didn't sound right, Arthur thought, it definitely wasn't Marvin) shook his head to rid it of the cobwebs he no doubt felt inside his mind, curling a hand around his cup. "Must have been having a strange dream, or something. Sorry." It was then he noticed who his companion was. "Oh," he said, rather lamely, "it's you."

Arthur raised an eyebrow at Merlin (there it was). "Indeed." He took a serene sip from his cup, watching impassively as Merlin raised his cold drink to his lips.

To his great befuddlement, when Merlin set the drink down, a thin trail of steam rose elegantly from the liquid. He must have been wrong, then, but something about that seemed… off.

He quickly forgot about it, as Merlin was still watching him. "I, er… didn't know the tables here had reservations."

Arthur blinked. "No, I just…." He cleared his throat and sat a bit taller. "I come here every night, and this is my regular table. I didn't notice you when I sat down."

The other frowned. "Right."

The tension was thick enough to be a physical weight in the air.

"Well," Merlin began, clutching his paper cup, "I really ought to be getting home… do you have the time?"

Arthur checked his watch. "Quarter past midnight."

Merlin looked a bit shocked, but that's what he got for falling asleep in a café. "Ah. Okay, then." He stood up, gathering his coat tighter around himself. "Goodnight, then," he offered, a bit nervously, swallowing up the _sire_ that threatened to fall out, as if by habit.

Arthur hummed into the rim of his cup. "Goodnight," he said, making a conscious effort to stare nonchalantly out the window.

Merlin made his escape, and Arthur was alone.

* * *

That night, neither expected to have such strange dreams.

The scenes were bathed in fiery reds and warm yellows, with long corridors of stone, creaking wooden doors, and a golden throne at the head of a wide, round table. Five men in chainmail stood proudly, red cloaks billowing behind them, until they dropped into the earth, one by one.

The scene shifted, to green hills and bright sunshine that was suddenly obstructed by trees. _Prat_ , whispered a voice, light with mirth. _Idiot_ , mouthed another, fond with amusement. There was no one stoking the campfire, and it blazed high into the night. The embers made a thousand shapes in a language long forgotten.

A figure in blue, and a figure in red, standing side by side in front of an approaching army. Two eyes shifted from blue to shining gold, and a cup of liquid went from frigid to steaming in less than a blink. The world exploded as a white dragon soared through the sky.

When they awoke, neither could quite remember the details, but they were pressed with an urgency to return to the Camelot Café as soon as possible.

By some sort of coincidence, both managed to contain themselves until about six in the evening, and then doors were left spinning on their hinges as Merlin sprinted out of Gaius' office and Arthur flew out of his father's.

* * *

 **Espresso-coffee, you know, making you dream about weird things from your 'past', because those things totally didn't happen now did they hhahahaha**

 **Chapter four should be out either later today or sometime tomorrow (unless I forget, which is just as likely).**

 **Thank you for reading!**


	4. The New Usual

**Here we are, at the end of our journey! I hope the ride was nice.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Merlin was having trouble breathing steadily by the time he arrived at the café. He burst in, and upon not finding what he was looking for, he put himself in line, for lack of anything else to do.

He made it to the front counter, where Gwaine stood waiting. The barista greeted him with a beam. "Your usual, Merlin?"

"Ah, y-yes… that."

Gwaine frowned. "You sound a bit… uncertain. Do you want your regular tea? Or, maybe you want…." He leaned in a bit closer, grinning. "Your _new_ regular?"

Merlin stared at him. "Yes, okay," he stated, utterly absent from the situation. He stuck out a few banknotes.

Gwaine gleefully accepted the money. "Good! You can head over to the waiting counter, mate, be done in a sec."

Merlin's mind was a thousand miles away as he meandered over to the waiting counter. What was he even doing here? He couldn't even remember the dream that had compelled him to come, so what was he doing?

The reason marched through the door not a second later, honing in on Merlin the second he was noticed.

Arthur grabbed Merlin's arm without a second thought, dragging him over to what he had since dubbed "their" table. "We need to talk," he declared, "Merlin." The name was the most familiar, out of all the strange things, and it brought with it a thousand feelings and memories he had never asked for.

Merlin stared at him, wondering why this stranger's face (for they had only met around two weeks ago, and had met twice in all that time) was such a comfort to his anxiety.

"Merlin?" he heard Gwaine call.

"I have to go," Merlin said, staring at Arthur for a moment longer until he had to turn around and head back to the counter.

As soon as the drink was in his hand, he took a more than healthy gulp of it before striding back to where Arthur sat, drumming his fingers on the table. The caffeine surged through Merlin's veins, giving him the strength to sit down and face this man.

"Hello, Arthur," he said quietly, as it felt appropriate to greet him.

Arthur ignored him. "Listen, this is going to sound very strange, but—"

"Do I seem familiar to you?" Merlin blurted, heart thrumming a bit too hard in his ribcage as soon as he recognized the turn in the conversation.

Arthur gaped at him. "That… was just what I was about to say, er… do I…?"

"Arthur, I don't know who you are, and I'm very much frightened about what exactly is happening right now but yes, I… I know you."

"You're contradicting yourself," Arthur replied weakly.

"I know." Merlin took a gulp of espresso-tea that burned his throat. "Believe me, I know, but I also don't know what's happening, and I'm very—" he flapped his hands in an effort to find an adequate word "—confused."

"Merlin," Arthur said. He was very pale. "Did you… have a dream last night?"

"Ah, yeah," Merlin practically whimpered. It felt as though the answer to all this confusion was just a few steps away, but he couldn't move to reach it. It was maddening.

Arthur took a breath to steady himself. "Tell me about it."

"Ah." Merlin's eyebrows went up. "I—I can't remember."

Arthur's eyes were pleading with him. "Try. Anything."

"R-right… well…." Merlin racked his brains, but he came up with very little. "There was… a wall."

"A wall, okay. What is the wall a part of?" Arthur demanded, voice rising in urgency.

"A… castle?"

"Right, yes, a castle, and _where is_ this castle?"

"Ah… er… I…."

" _Mer_ lin," Arthur growled, and Merlin did not understand why he was angry, of all things.

"Look, I can't remember! I just… I… I…."

His heart was pounding, his mind was reeling, and he tried to stop his arms from flailing and failed spectacularly. _Mer_ lin, repeated his mind, reminding him of the curious emphasis on the first syllable, and that was familiar too, wasn't it….

In his agitation, the cup of Gwaine's concoction was knocked clear off the table, spinning wildly in a great arc until—it stopped, just like that, in midair. Merlin felt a strange sensation rushing through him, focusing just behind his eyes.

Both men stared at it for a moment before turning back to each other.

Suddenly, everything clicked.

"Merlin," Arthur said, the word so familiar on his lips, and he remembered.

"Arthur" Merlin whispered, scarcely daring to believe the memories that suddenly surfaced, until Arthur surged forwards and pulled him into a tight hug, and Merlin's heart nearly burst. The cup of espresso-tea dropped ungracefully to the floor, but neither noticed.

"Where have you _been_ , you idiot," Arthur muttered, but it was hardly a question.

Merlin laughed around the tears he felt springing forth. "Arthur," he repeated, " _Arthur_ , it's been so long, I can't even believe it…."

A few bystanders stared at them, but they could hardly care. No one seemed to have noticed the mishap with the espresso-tea.

Gwaine let out a low whistle from behind the counter. "Took them long enough," he muttered to Lancelot, who stood beside him, covering his smile with a hand.

"Yes," Lancelot agreed. "Now we can finally all get on with our lives."

From behind her newspaper, Gwen smiled. "Elyan and Percival are on their way," she told them, folding her newspaper and pulling out her phone.

"And so is Leon," Lancelot added, doing the same.

Gwaine grinned as Merlin and Arthur detached themselves from each other and glanced in their direction. Merlin burst into fresh tears at the sight of them, and even Arthur was hit by the onslaught of emotional memories.

Lancelot looked up and smiled nervously at the very perturbed customers who stood in line. "Gwaine, we're going to have to take them to the back room."

Gwaine only shrugged. "They can talk it out wherever they want, I think. It's quite a spectacle."

"Gwaine," Lancelot hissed.

"Oh, fine," Gwaine sighed, but he was still beaming as he motioned them over.

* * *

 **Then they cried and hugged and exchanged stories and hugged some more. Probably cried some more too.**

 **It's done! I have... never finished a multichap before... o_o I don't know how I feel... especially since this was never meant to have more than one chapter, haha.**

 **Thank you for reading!**


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